Monday, October 08, 2012

Things Are Getting Really !@#$% Scary Out There

"What's killing us is all these entitlements, we've got to get rid of all of them. All this welfare, food stamps, Medicare, and then big government health care on top of it, it's all just too much! When do we say enough is enough?”

What do you mean, exactly, I ask him. You say people are suffering under Obama, don't they need some help?

“No. No more help, enough is enough. People have to pick themselves up, take some responsibility. Why should we be paying for people’s mistakes and bad choices? All these illegitimate families just adding to the population, making all these bad decisions, then asking us to pay for it? It's time to cut them off."

I ask for some clarification: what do you mean, just starve them out? What if people can't find work? Let them starve?

"Look, there's always something you can do. You telling me people can't make a choice for a better life? We have to help all of them? No. I'll tell you what really need to do with these illegitimate families on welfare—give all the kids up for adoption and execute the parents."

I stare at him and blink in a glaze of shock.

Just to be sure I heard him right, I ask him to repeat it, twice.

"Yes, I mean it. Get rid of all of them, give the kids up for adoption, execute the parents, and you get rid of the problem.” (When I call him back to revisit the issue, he elaborates: “put the children up for adoption and execute the parents, and word would get out soon” that poor people shouldn’t have kids.)

Surely Clifford Russell was misquoted, right? No one actually thinks this -- let alone some random Romney volunteer in a Virginia field office, right? Well, fortunately, Mr. Russell wrote in to the journal, which printed his response below the original article:

I did not say that I wanted to execute parents on welfare and give their kids up for adoption.

I said that it would be better to execute the parents of an illegitimate child and put their child up for adoption.

Oh, well, that's better then. He then asks:

Does it bother you that Progressives have to intentionally lie to
make their positions look good? Could that intentional lie be a bases
for a deformation of character law suit? [...]

Mr. Russel is right to be worried that he's being defamed. He is; but not, it seems, by the journalist.

Now that it has been confirmed illegitimate children are a problem, the
next question is what is the solution. I believe executing the parents
is a better solution than the Democratic solution of abortion and
handing out condoms (birth control). [...]

I believe in personal responsibility thus I believe the policy of
America should be to execute the parents of illegitimate children and
put the children up for adoption. I advocate America make it a capital
federal crime under Civil Law for people to fail to provide for their
children. I believe all Socialistic Programs should be phased out to
stop people from using these program to justify their abandoning their
responsibility to their children.

....and note that we're back and "should... execute", which is what Cook said in the first place.
He then quotes the bible to support his position.

I'm not going to insult the intelligence of my Noble Readers by talking about why this is so utterly, unspeakably horrific. I will note, however, that once we talk about executing large numbers of people for crimes like being poor, we need to reintroduce Nazi analogies into the discourse.